{"id":580639,"date":"2026-08-02T18:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T18:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/580639\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T18:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T18:34:10","slug":"late-galway-heroics-end-22-year-wait-for-all-ireland-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/580639\/","title":{"rendered":"Late Galway heroics end 22-year wait for All-Ireland glory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Galway are All-Ireland Senior Ladies Football champions for the first time in 22 years after edging Kerry 2-07 to 0-12 in a dramatic final at Croke Park.<\/p>\n

Leanne Coen proved the difference on the biggest stage, scoring two vital goals as the Tribeswomen finally got their hands on the Brendan Martin Cup for the first time since 2004.<\/p>\n

\"2026Leanne Coen celebrates scoring her side\u2019s second goal
Pic: INPHO\/Ben Brady<\/p>\n

Coen gave Galway the perfect start when she fired home after 16 minutes to put her side 1-2 to 0-3 in front. <\/p>\n

Kerry responded well through the impressive Siofra O\u2019Shea, whose three first-half points kept the Kingdom firmly in contention in what was a fiercely contested opening.<\/p>\n

The game<\/a> remained finely balanced, with both defences continuing to frustrate the opposition before it burst into life in the closing stages.<\/p>\n

R\u00f3isin Leonard nudged Galway back in front in the 50th minute, but Kerry looked to have seized control when O\u2019Shea and Niamh N\u00ed Chonchuir combined to fire over four unanswered points and move the Kingdom ahead.<\/p>\n

\"\"Galway\u2019s Kate Geraghty lifts the Brendan Martin Cup. Pic: INPHO\/Ben Brady<\/p>\n

Galway, however, had one final response. <\/p>\n

Coen produced her second goal of the afternoon to swing the momentum back in Galway\u2019s favour, only for Caoimhe Evans to level matters once again with just four minutes remaining.<\/p>\n

With the tension at its highest, Eva Noone stepped up to split the posts with just over two minutes left, giving Galway the lead.<\/p>\n

There was one final twist in stoppage time when O\u2019Shea\u2019s late free dropped into the Galway net. However, the referee had already blown for a free-kick before the ball crossed the line, meaning the goal did not stand.<\/p>\n

The final whistle sparked scenes of celebration as Galway ended a 22-year wait for All-Ireland glory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Galway are All-Ireland Senior Ladies Football champions for the first time in 22 years after edging Kerry 2-07…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-580639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}